“Hi Ned,” she said pleasantly.
Ned just nodded curtly. He hated her for what she had done to me, perhaps more than I hated her for it. So the drive to the restaurant was particularly quiet. I asked her if she wanted a drink, to which she politely declined. Probably thought her scheme to win me – and money – over would fail if she didn’t have her wits about her. I resumed to quietly sipping my whiskey and only looked at her when she finally spoke again.
“You look very nice,” she said, still trying to sound annoyingly pleasant.
“Thanks,” I said and looked back out the window. Gina had interrupted my conversation with Ned about Aria, and that alone was enough to make me irritated by her.
“I hope you will be a little chattier at the restaurant. It will make for a lot less uncomfortable of a meal.” She smiled serenely at me, as though she wasn’t just complaining.
“I just don’t have anything to say.” I shrugged.
“I’m sure we can find something to talk about,” she said, putting her hand over mine. “There is a lot of history.”
“Oh, you would like to discuss history, huh? How did it feel fucking someone else behind my back?”
She went red, all attempts at pleasantness in her face vanished. “I meant the rest of our history. The good parts. Don’t you remember any of the good parts, Zay?”
“No,” I spat as Ned parked outside the restaurant.
“Now let’s get this date that my mother forced upon us over with, so that she can stop threatening to kill herself.”
She raised her eyes wider. “What are you talking about?”
We hopped out of the car and Ned went off to park. “Don’t play innocent. I’m sure you put her up to it.”
“I honestly don’t know what you are talking about. I know your momma really wants us to get back together, but I didn’t know she had been pressuring you like that…I thought you wanted to give us another shot. I thought—”
“Whatever you thought, you thought wrong. But we are here now, and we might as well enjoy the evening, yeah?”
“Zay, I really want us to work,” she said, reaching out for my hand again but I yanked it away this time. “You’re the love of my life.”
That made me snort. “I have no idea what people mean when they use that word, but based on mother’s ‘love’ for my dad and your ‘love’ for me, I am pretty sure I am not interested in that shallow fucking emotion.”
She looked away, holding back tears as we stepped into the restaurant. It was a high-end Japanese establishment, with authentic Japanese decorations, and the chef was famous for winning Japan’s version of “Top Chef” last year. He had since moved to the States to open his own highly exclusive restaurant. It would take a normal person months to find a reservation here, but I just had to make a phone call. I figured if I was going to suffer through dinner with Gina, I might as well at the very least enjoy the meal.
“Sinclair,” I told the Filipino-looking hostess.
“Come with me, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair,” she said brightly, escorting us to a private table at the end of the room. I started to correct her, but Gina held my hand again, obviously pleased to be referred to as Mrs. Sinclair. “Thank you so much for joining us today, your server will be here any moment.”
As soon as she was off, I told Gina, “We are not Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair.”
“We technically are, Zay,” she sighed. “Like it or not, we are still married, as the divorce papers were never fully processed. You were too busy to make it to any of the court dates, remember? I am Mrs. Sinclair, for now, at least. And I would like to try my best to keep it that way. You hate me right now and you can’t see past my mistakes, which I totally understand, but I want this to work. I want you to trust me again.”
I snorted loudly. “You’re delusional, aren’t you? You and my mom both. You think your actions bear no consequences, and that you can just sweep in here with a slutty dress or take your clothes off in my room and everything will just go back to normal?”
Her face went a deep shade of pink. “I didn’t say…I didn’t mean to imply…or dress slutty—“
“Hah!” I cut her off. “So you’re just letting your breasts hang out of your dress with no intention of seducing me, right? Just like how you came into my room with just a bathrobe on and it conveniently slipped off your body?”
“Yes, that was me trying to seduce you. But you made it clear that you weren’t interested. Honestly, I never knew you were capable of turning down a naked woman.”
“Now you do,” I snapped. “So don’t try to pull that shit with me again.”
She put her hand over mine again. That was getting annoying.
“Zayden,” she said with her frustratingly pleasant tone back. “Be honest with me, and it’s okay, whatever the answer is. Is there someone else?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my mind automatically drifting to Aria. I wondered what she was doing right this second. Arguing with somebody about something, probably. She was feisty as hell.